Author: Emily H. Grade Level: 11/12 Course: Chemistry
Purpose of Unit
The purpose of this unit is for students to be able to describe chemical reactions in writing. This unit will encompass balancing chemical equations, identifying types of reactions, predicting products of reactions, and predicting formation of a precipitate. Students will need to use their prior knowledge of concepts, such as the mole and conservation of mass, and apply it when balancing chemical equations. Therefore, I will offer a Do-Now exercise each morning to activate their prior knowledge and assess what they know.
It is always important to make concepts meaningful to students. I will do this by showing students that life is full of chemical reactions. Many demonstrations and video clips will be incorporated throughout the unit to give students examples of the ways in which chemical reactions play a role in our lives. The Adopt-a-Chemical Reaction project is designed to help students relate chemistry to everyday life. Each pair of students will present their adopted chemical reaction to their classmates in the form of a poster, which will then be displayed in the classroom. They will choose a chemical reaction that somehow connects to their life, be it lighting a grill or the making of soap, and they will investigate the chemistry behind the reaction so that they better understand the world in which we live.
This unit will offer many collaborative learning experiences. At least once each lesson the students will be working in groups, applying the information they have been taught. Each day will start with a Do-Now that reviews the topics from the prior lesson and introduces the next topic which will be elaborated upon during the day. Some lessons follow the Do-Now with a visual demonstration conducted by the teacher so that students see the chemical equations they write and link them to real-life occurrences. Each type of chemical reaction can be demonstrated by the teacher or by a video clip and are used to grab the students' interest. One experiment that will be a great learning experience involves developing an activity series of metals. Based on the data they collect during the lab, the students will be able to construct a simpler activity series than the version in their textbooks. This will serve as an activity that explains the reasoning behind the chart they find in their book. Once finished with the experiment, the students will have a better understanding of the reactivity of metals because they have personally seen each metal react with solutions.
I will be informally assessing my students from the first lesson of this unit until the formal assessment which concludes the unit. Background knowledge is vital for succees throughout this unit, so I will check the students' prior knowledge of writing chemical formulas and recognizing chemical changes in the first lesson. Each day there is some sort of teacher demonstration, during which many probing questions will be asked to the class. These questions serve as a check on the student's progress and give me an idea of the misconceptions my students have. Because the students will receive ample practice with balancing equations during the first lesson, there will be an informal assessment at the end of the lesson. This will highlight those students who struggle with the process of balancing so that I offer more guidance to those individuals in the following lessons when balancing equations is required.
Another informal assessment (quiz) will be given at the beginning of the fourth lesson, titled Classifying Chemical Reactions III. This will measure the students' progress in understanding the activity series of metals, as well as balancing equations and writing correct chemical formulae. Most of the lesson's will be followed by a homework assignment that allows the students to practice the skills they have learned. This is another example of an informal assessment that enables me to monitor my students' learning. The summative assessment given during the last lesson incorporates all of the skills taught and practiced over the entire unit.
Rationale
This unit is full of concepts that the students can relate to, so the biggest challenge will be getting those students to make the connections to their everyday lives. To make this topic meaningful for my students, I have incorporated the lab activity in which the students develop their own activity series based on their observations, and a project that allows the students to research a chemical reaction they are familiar with. In constructing their own activity series of metals, the students gain meaning because they built the series instead of being given it first. The teacher demonstrations for each type of reaction also serve to relate this unit to students as they will be able to link the chemical changes they experience to the concepts of chemistry they have previously learned. I will make the activity series lab inquiry based by first posing the question "how can we determine the reactivity of various metals" and then developing a strategy for testing this question given certain reagents. The students and I will work to develop a usable data table in which the students' observations of several reactions will occur. This provides them with the opportunity to investigate and think like a real scientist, as opposed to being given a step by step procedure to follow.
Each day I will assess student learning by opening with a Do-Now that either checks prior knowledge or assesses their understanding of the previous lessons. Do-Nows include reviewing previous chapter topics like writing chemical formulae or discussing the answers to homework problems. The lessons are sequenced to introduce the simpler chemical reactions before introducing the more complicated types. Each type of reaction uses the knowledge learned in the first lesson about balancing chemical equations and also builds on the previously learned type of reaction. By the end of the fourth lesson, the students will have learned all five types and should be able to "demonstrate an understanding of the structure of matter by...given specific reactants (e.g. Ba + Cl2) write the balanced equation and determine the products, type of compound formed (ionic or molecular), and the properties of the compound (e.g. solubilities, electrolytic, etc)" (PS1 (Ext) 4- 4bb).
Over the course of this unit, the reactions will be identified as one of five types and each type will have distinguishing features so that students can easily make sense out of the various chemical reactions they encounter. Working in cooperative learning groups will be beneficial to their understanding because it allows students to learn from each other and discover concepts or skills together. To really make sense out of the unit, the students will complete the Adopt-a-Chemical Reaction project. This project gives them another resource for working with chemical reactions and practicing the skills needed throughout this unit.
Title: Chemical Reactions
Author: Emily H.
Grade Level: 11/12
Course: Chemistry
Purpose of Unit
The purpose of this unit is for students to be able to describe chemical reactions in writing. This unit will encompass balancing chemical equations, identifying types of reactions, predicting products of reactions, and predicting formation of a precipitate. Students will need to use their prior knowledge of concepts, such as the mole and conservation of mass, and apply it when balancing chemical equations. Therefore, I will offer a Do-Now exercise each morning to activate their prior knowledge and assess what they know.It is always important to make concepts meaningful to students. I will do this by showing students that life is full of chemical reactions. Many demonstrations and video clips will be incorporated throughout the unit to give students examples of the ways in which chemical reactions play a role in our lives. The Adopt-a-Chemical Reaction project is designed to help students relate chemistry to everyday life. Each pair of students will present their adopted chemical reaction to their classmates in the form of a poster, which will then be displayed in the classroom. They will choose a chemical reaction that somehow connects to their life, be it lighting a grill or the making of soap, and they will investigate the chemistry behind the reaction so that they better understand the world in which we live.
This unit will offer many collaborative learning experiences. At least once each lesson the students will be working in groups, applying the information they have been taught. Each day will start with a Do-Now that reviews the topics from the prior lesson and introduces the next topic which will be elaborated upon during the day. Some lessons follow the Do-Now with a visual demonstration conducted by the teacher so that students see the chemical equations they write and link them to real-life occurrences. Each type of chemical reaction can be demonstrated by the teacher or by a video clip and are used to grab the students' interest. One experiment that will be a great learning experience involves developing an activity series of metals. Based on the data they collect during the lab, the students will be able to construct a simpler activity series than the version in their textbooks. This will serve as an activity that explains the reasoning behind the chart they find in their book. Once finished with the experiment, the students will have a better understanding of the reactivity of metals because they have personally seen each metal react with solutions.
Learning Performances and Standards
PS1 (Ext) 4- 4bbOutline, Concept Map, or other Graphical Representation of the Concepts Addressed in the Unit
Lesson Sequence
Lesson #1: Describing Chemical ChangeLesson #2: Classifying Chemical Reactions I
Lesson #3: Classifying Chemical Reactions II
Lesson #4: Classifying Chemical Reactions III
Lesson #5: Reactions in Aqueous Solution
Lesson #6: Chemical Reactions Unit Exam
Assessment Plan
I will be informally assessing my students from the first lesson of this unit until the formal assessment which concludes the unit. Background knowledge is vital for succees throughout this unit, so I will check the students' prior knowledge of writing chemical formulas and recognizing chemical changes in the first lesson. Each day there is some sort of teacher demonstration, during which many probing questions will be asked to the class. These questions serve as a check on the student's progress and give me an idea of the misconceptions my students have. Because the students will receive ample practice with balancing equations during the first lesson, there will be an informal assessment at the end of the lesson. This will highlight those students who struggle with the process of balancing so that I offer more guidance to those individuals in the following lessons when balancing equations is required.Another informal assessment (quiz) will be given at the beginning of the fourth lesson, titled Classifying Chemical Reactions III. This will measure the students' progress in understanding the activity series of metals, as well as balancing equations and writing correct chemical formulae. Most of the lesson's will be followed by a homework assignment that allows the students to practice the skills they have learned. This is another example of an informal assessment that enables me to monitor my students' learning. The summative assessment given during the last lesson incorporates all of the skills taught and practiced over the entire unit.
Rationale
This unit is full of concepts that the students can relate to, so the biggest challenge will be getting those students to make the connections to their everyday lives. To make this topic meaningful for my students, I have incorporated the lab activity in which the students develop their own activity series based on their observations, and a project that allows the students to research a chemical reaction they are familiar with. In constructing their own activity series of metals, the students gain meaning because they built the series instead of being given it first. The teacher demonstrations for each type of reaction also serve to relate this unit to students as they will be able to link the chemical changes they experience to the concepts of chemistry they have previously learned. I will make the activity series lab inquiry based by first posing the question "how can we determine the reactivity of various metals" and then developing a strategy for testing this question given certain reagents. The students and I will work to develop a usable data table in which the students' observations of several reactions will occur. This provides them with the opportunity to investigate and think like a real scientist, as opposed to being given a step by step procedure to follow.Each day I will assess student learning by opening with a Do-Now that either checks prior knowledge or assesses their understanding of the previous lessons. Do-Nows include reviewing previous chapter topics like writing chemical formulae or discussing the answers to homework problems. The lessons are sequenced to introduce the simpler chemical reactions before introducing the more complicated types. Each type of reaction uses the knowledge learned in the first lesson about balancing chemical equations and also builds on the previously learned type of reaction. By the end of the fourth lesson, the students will have learned all five types and should be able to "demonstrate an understanding of the structure of matter by...given specific reactants (e.g. Ba + Cl2) write the balanced equation and determine the products, type of compound formed (ionic or molecular), and the properties of the compound (e.g. solubilities, electrolytic, etc)" (PS1 (Ext) 4- 4bb).
Over the course of this unit, the reactions will be identified as one of five types and each type will have distinguishing features so that students can easily make sense out of the various chemical reactions they encounter. Working in cooperative learning groups will be beneficial to their understanding because it allows students to learn from each other and discover concepts or skills together. To really make sense out of the unit, the students will complete the Adopt-a-Chemical Reaction project. This project gives them another resource for working with chemical reactions and practicing the skills needed throughout this unit.